The Director of the Environment and Natural Resource Research Initiative (ENRRI – EfD Ghana), Prof. Wisdom Akpalu, has called for pragmatic steps to address challenges in Ghana’s fisheries sector to safeguard the industry.

He added that at least 4000 canoes currently operating on the seas should be gotten rid of to ensure sustainability.

“There is a danger that the stocks would completely collapse and the fishermen would not get fish anymore. And, we will have to import all this fish from elsewhere when we are not even sure of their quality.”
Prof. Wisdom Akpalu, Director of ENRRI – EfD Ghana

The Professor said the notion that the sea can never dry and the erroneous belief that there will be always fish in the sea to catch pushes too many people to fish. This, he mentioned, endangers the future of Ghana’s fisheries sector. He explained that the best way to protect the future is to control the numbers of artisanal fishermen.

“Currently, we have almost 13,000 plus canoes that are catching fish in our waters. But, if you do the mathematics, we only need 9000 to derive the maximum profit or benefit from the fisheries. So, which means technically, 4000 plus canoes are not supposed to be there at all.”
Prof. Wisdom Akpalu, Director of ENRRI – EfD Ghana

Prof Akpalu made this known during a roundtable discussion on Fisheries Regulation and Enforcement in Ghana at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

Illegal Fishing

The professor noted that about 90% artisanal fishermen in Ghana use illegal fishing net meshes and indulge in light fishing. This, in effect, contributes to the depletion of Ghana’s fish stock. He expressed the concern that in spite of the dire consequences of illegal fishing on Ghana’s fish stocks, the practices keep growing by the day.

“We are potentially losing 200 million dollars every single year because of illegal fishing practices.”
Prof. Wisdom Akpalu, Director of ENRRI – EfD Ghana

He indicated that sanctions that goes with violation of fishing laws are not deterrent enough. Thus, offenders in the fisheries sector do not bother

Furthermore, he noted that fishing, unlike mining, is renewable and it could benefit society many years to come and still be viable. Therefore, the fisheries sector needs to be preserved, he cautioned. He said the sector must also be taken seriously “because it provided jobs for 2.5 million Ghanaians which included 500,000 women with fish providing about 70% of the protein needs of Ghanaians.

“Fishing contributed about 1-4% annually to the size of the economy, approximately 15% annually to agricultural input, and export revenue to about US$ 15 million annually.”
Prof. Wisdom Akpalu, Director of ENRRI – EfD Ghana

In controlling the illegalities in fishing, there is the need for constant monitoring of fishing vessels at sea. Prof Akpalu therefore, proposed the installation of video devices on fishing vessels to monitor activities.

“A device such as the ‘FishEye of Trident’ can be installed on each vessel at an estimated total cost of GHS 10.8 million. Each vessel should be monitored by two individuals.”
Prof. Wisdom Akpalu, Director of ENRRI – EfD Ghana

Premix Subsidy

Touching on premix fuel subsidy, Prof. Akpalu said the practice contributes to the fast depletion of the country’s fish stocks. He explained that the subsidization of fishing inputs makes it easier for everybody to go fishing. Hence, leading to overcapitalization, a problem Ghana is still grappling with.

He said currently Ghana has more fishing vessels and canoes than expected and if the numbers are not regulated and instead, we subsidized fishing inputs to encourage more people to go fishing, it will compound the country’s problems.

“Subsidizing fishing inputs will help to collapse the industry,” Prof. Akpalu noted.

“When you do that, you are making it easier for people to go chase the few stocks left in the sea.”

He explained that for a biological resource such as fish, “the rate at which you are catching them should not exceed the rate at which they are reproducing.”

He said the country spends more than $40 million subsidizing premix fuel. Such money could be put to other uses to provide alternative livelihoods for fishers, he added.